The Purifying Element
by decoy134
Summary: Embarking on a voyage to hunt those who have fallen to darkness, the crew of six is locked into a deathmatch on the Shadow Isles. A man of the moon. An overlord descends. The crestfallen warriors rise once more.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

A flickering flame illuminates our path through the darkness, embers drifting past the girlish hands which held it. The captain of our vessel stares forward as he commandeers the ship, his eyes timidly scanning through the thick fog. The moonlight disappears within the thick clouds, leaving us floating precariously within shadows. Waters gently churn against the mid-sized boat as it silently makes it way towards our destination.

Lucian stands at the bow of the ship. His white coattails sway with the wind as he clenches his pistols tightly, flinching at every ripple within the darkness. In the brief interval of twelve hours that I have known Lucian, I've still yet to see him lower his guard even once. He has been amused, no doubt, but to say 'amused' is quite generous in itself. The few times I've seen him smirk, it has always been towards something morbid; a grim sense of humor you might say. His dedication is, quite frankly, inspiring; yet, I cannot shake a foreboding feeling around him.

The shine of silver glistening against the flame catches my eye. Shauna Vayne sits atop a wooden crate, her hair braided back in a long ponytail, her hands sliding against the body of a massive crossbow seated upon her lap. She glances at me through her blood red goggles. I avert my eyes uncomfortably, feeling as if I was being read like a book.

"You're not a champion, are you?" she poses to me.

"…No, I'm not," I answer. Among our party of six, I was out of place for this shameful truth. Vayne continues to stare at me. "…Can I help you?"

She ignores my inquiry. "Tell me, what skills or abilities do you possess?"

"My… skills?"

She nods. "As you willingly chose to embark with us on this expedition, I hope you possess the power to stand on your own. It's too late to turn back now."

"I'm well aware of that," I retort.

"In that case, what power do you possess?"

I remain silent, my hand lightly grazing against the chain bound upon my arm.

After a while, Vayne drops the subject, sensing my disdain. "Why did you chose to come with us?"

"To repay a favor," I state without hesitation. The sound of laughter interrupts me, as a slender woman dashes by, a series of nine tails set ablaze trailing after her. Two feet below me, a young girl clutching a teddy bear makes playful chase, giggles galore between them.

"How charming," Vayne remarks. I try futilely to suppress a chuckle.

"Let me ask you the same question," I say as I turn back towards Vayne. "Why are you here? Why did you assemble this voyage?"

"Humph. Shouldn't it be obvious? Evil lurks around every corner. It is the duty of the Night Hunter to pass judgment upon it."

"I wasn't asking the Night Hunter. I was asking Shauna Vayne."

Behind her goggles, I swore I saw her blink. "Shauna Vayne? I am Shauna Vayne. Shauna Vayne is the Night Hunter."

"No, it's different. The Night Hunter is your persona, your self-appointed role. Her role is to exterminate evil. But Shauna Vayne is the woman behind the Night Hunter. In that case, what is Shauna Vayne's role?"

"It is the same as that of the Night Hunter's, for I am the Night Hunter."

"Then maybe a better question is, why are you the Night Hunter?"

Vayne leans back stoic against the wall. Though her face remained expressionless, I wondered if I had hit a soft spot. I scratch my head awkwardly, before a rough hand pats us each against the shoulder.

"We're here," our captain announces. An instance of dread suddenly welled within me, but I quickly suppressed it. If Jayce was at all disturbed, his voice did not betray it. Taking up his Mercury Hammer between both fists, he slams its head into a chrome opening within the ship. The crew turns in anticipation as hissing fans blow away the fog. The clouds wither away and the moonlight dispels the shroud darkness across the Shadow Isles.

A thick, frightening aura writhes around the archipelago. I slowly breathe in and steel myself.

"What is your name, boy?" Vayne asks. Startled, I turn towards her and meet a pair of soft, blue eyes.

"Kira," I reply. "Tsukino, Kira."

"So you too are of the moon. Will you become our purifying element?" Vayne chuckles to herself as she gives me a pat on the back while making her way to the bow of the ship. "Come, Kira. Let us hunt those who have fallen to darkness!"

I grin. The Shadow Isles are upon us.

So it begins.

**Chapter 1: The First Night; So It Began**

As we approach the edge of the isles, the air suddenly grows thicker, the atmosphere suffocating. Riding atop the churning waters of a narrow river, we navigate through a ghastly thicket glowing a haunting green. The branches hang intimidatingly, as if drawing closer with every waking moment. Annie and Ahri stand on deck. Ahri's nervously scanning our surroundings, but Annie seems merely fascinated. Lucian grinds his teeth, his tension at its peak. Jayce steers the hextech vessel, his expression determined, yet restless. Only Vayne remained calm, like a predator tracking its prey. She gazes forward with purpose alongside Lucian, prepared to shoot down our enemies at a moment's notice.

"We're docking here," Jayce announces as he begins to slow the ship down.

"Why here?" I ask. "We aren't even close to the heart of the archipelago yet. This is just the middle of some random island."

"Yes, but we've also been driving for fourteen hours, and I don't think anybody's gotten any sleep at all. Here, at the edge of the archipelago, we should be able to make it to the heart within two hours and avoid combating any serious threats until then."

"Though, that doesn't mean that we'll be completely free of threats," Vayne interjects. "Let's dock for now, but we'll need to secure the perimeter first. Jayce, go ahead and cut the engines. Ahri, you and I will scout out the area. The rest of you- stay here and protect Annie. We'll need her to subjugate the spirits haunting the area. We'll return once we've completely secured the forest."

The crew nods in affirmation. Vayne and Ahri stride, light as air, towards the edge of the ship and vault past the rapidly returning fog. Jayce waves me a temporary goodbye as he heads down to cut the engine.

I look over towards Annie, who has usurped Vayne's throne upon the wooden box, humming to herself. Lucian stands with his back turned towards me, vigilant as always. I turn my back towards him and head towards Annie.

"Yo," I gesture.

"…Hm?" Annie looks up towards me, surprised. "Have you seen my bear Tibbers?" she asks as she holds her teddy bear closer to me.

"I have indeed."

"You wanna play too? It'll be fun!"

I gently grin. "Sure, what do you want to play?"

"Hmmm… Big sis Ahri and I were playing tag at one point."

_I remember that_. "Let's not play that one," I chuckle nervously. "How about… we build a house of cards?"

"Ah, I love doing that!"

"You do?"

"Yeah! Especially when we burn it down right at the end," Annie replies cheerfully.

"Aha, well, we can do that too." Annie and I head to the back of the ship. "Where could they be…?" The fog was turning heavy and it became increasingly difficult to see. As we search around the deck, downstairs, and back, we notice a deck of cards lying nonchalantly near a pile of crates. They're still in the case, a nametag inscribed 'Reginald' attached to it. I take and open them. "Looks like these will do," I say as I scan the deck.

"What color are they?"

I turn the deck around. "Blue."

For the next several minutes, Annie futilely tries to build past a three level house. I smile as I do it for her. "Hey, you're pretty good at this," Annie says to me.

"I guess, but I get the feeling that I've done this quite a bit in the past." Gradually, we manage to build a six-story house of cards. I stand back to take one last gander at the titled structure.

"Can we burn it now?" Annie asks earnestly. I nod. With a small cheer, Annie ignites a ferocious flame blazing between both palms. "_Incinerate_!" Throwing her hands forward, the flame erupts into a hellfire that entirely consumes the cards. To my surprise, the fire begins to spiral across the cards. They run across their sides, and rather than charring them instantly, they're slowly blackened from the center-out.

I catch a whiff of the smoke. "Smells like…"

"Burning?" Annie asks. I laugh and pat her head.

_Whooooosshh!_

A strong breeze begins to blow. As I instinctively try to push back the hair from my eyes, the blaze suddenly erupts outwards into a bonfire.

"What the hell's going on!?" I shout amidst the howling gale. I turn towards Annie, who stares at the flames blankly. "Annie? Hey, Annie! Answer me, Annie!"

"It won't stop…" she mutters. "I can't stop it…" I curse as the bonfire begins bathing the rest of the ship. Unnaturally, the flames spread in a line, dividing the ship in half.

"Annie, what are you doing!?" a deep voice calls out. On the other side of the ship, an agitated Lucian appears within our view.

"I can't control it anymore!" The ship begins to groan. An enraged shout rings out from below.

Jayce exits from the lower deck. "What's going on up- whoa!" he exclaims, as a stray flame nearly licks him. In an instant, Jayce's face twitches as he fully comprehends the situation. "We have to get off the ship. Kira, Annie, come over-" His words are cut short as the flames expand once more, separating Annie and I from the rest of the crew. I see Lucian shout something, before the red hot blaze completely cuts us off.

"Annie, let's get out of here," I say. "Annie!"

She seems to snap out of it. "Oh..." She holds onto my wrist absent mindedly, gazing down at her bear. "Tibbers… what did you say?"

I ignore her ramblings and pull her to the side of the ship. Before the bonfire can completely consume us, we vault over the side and land on the hard dirt before sprinting away from the crumpling ship as fast as possible.

Three seconds later, the engine blows, our vessel detonating across its port, a storm of shrapnel spewing out. I narrowly dodge a jagged piece from impaling my shoulder, but it succeeds in knocking us off our balance, ashes floating around us.

I freeze. The contrast of black against fog; the fog has become much heavier than I originally thought it was. I turn back towards the ship, and it's nowhere to be found. Where am I? Wait, where's Annie? I frantically search around, but she's nowhere to be found. This fog wasn't just clouding my vision- it was completely eliminating it all together. Gradually, the trees, and even the immediate ground beneath me is consumed in the mist. Almost as if I was floating, I found myself locked in a grey prison with no way out.

Something is hunting me, and it's starting by blinding me. I could still hear, and I could still smell a rotten smell.

A moan behind my shoulder…

I flinch back as a rotting arm cuts through the fog, nearly tearing my side off. Before it can disappear back to safety, I grasp its wrist firmly and pull it closer.

Green, mossy flesh hanging loosely from a skull springs towards me, its jaws spread open ready to take a chunk off my head. My free hand crackles, lightning radiating- an electric bolt that ripples through the air. My fist rams itself into the zombie's head, disintegrating it with a detonation crashing through space. As I evade liquefying bone, a second assailant takes a stab at my back, narrowly missing my spine. The zombie's arm pierces straight through my armored jacket and out the other side. I gasp in pain before elbowing the zombie back and ramming another bolt into its side to sidestep away.

A series of groans ring out, disjoint and overlapping. I don't know how many of them have me surrounded, but I have to make a break for it in some direction!

_..._

I still don't know where I am. I don't know how far I've ran; it feels like it's been some time. Eventually, the open wound near my abdomen wears me out, sending me crashing into the ground.

And in an instant, I'm ensnared by a horde of arms erupting from the ground.

"Guh!" I choke, as I feel myself sinking into the ground. Where did these arms come from? Where's Annie? How did I get here?

I frantically look around while struggling in their grasp. There's still nothing. Nothing but heavy fog. No, it just looks like fog. In fact, there's nothing there at all!

The ground is too smooth, the soil too loose, to have been the dirt I descended upon only moments ago. These arms appeared out of nowhere, and the zombies that surrounded me only moment ago did too. Then they disappeared as quickly as they came.

Were they even there in the first place? Why did Annie disappear when she was holding onto me from the very beginning? Why can't I smell the burning ship? There's no way fog can cover that all up!

This is a dream! I'm not ensnared in these arms, but feared in a dream!

Before I'm completely dragged under, I wake up suspended in the air, my head clutched by a mass of roots. Annie sleeps dully across from me, captured by the same roots. I writhe in my prison, unable to escape these demonic branches. The trees must've trapped us right after we escaped the boat!

Annie's forehead creases in agitation, and a nosebleed begins. I look down at where I had been wounded; of course, I didn't suffer any actual damage. But mentally, the area was still numb; these trees attack the mind. If I had died in that dream, I would've been permanently crippled in reality.

"Annie! Snap out of it!" I shout. "Hey! Annie!" She can't hear me. She's trapped in a nightmare. The dream seems to have struck a nerve as she suddenly begins screaming through a single, continuous wail.

The teddy bear at her side suddenly reacts. A firestorm's let loose and utterly disintegrates Annie's branches, setting her free.

The tree which captured her writhes and howls and it burns away. My abductor seems to have sensed its ally's wails, as it begins to try and crush the life out of me.

_I… can't… breathe…_ Sweat runs down my face. I'm about to feel something break, when six bolts of light crash into the branches and annihilates them. I bounce off the ground, the hard ground which I can see.

"Lucian!" His lean figure slides across the ground without kicking up a speck of dust, firing shot after shot into both trees, ending their rampage before they even began, leaving nothing but firewood.

Without pausing, he fires a line of _Piercing Light_ into the fog, leaving a scorched trail across its path. A ferocious howl breaks out, and the air grows dry.

A massive hand spews out the ground, a torrent of fire erupting with it. It surges forth, bringing a demon ablaze from hell along with it, lighting up the whole forest. The screams of the trees continue as leaves evaporate into ash, the smoke stinging my eyes. As soon as it emerges, it leaps into the air straight at us. I can't move in time, but moments before impact, Tibbers jumps towards the demon's fiery jaws, somehow knocking it aside.

"What the hell is that?" I cry out.

"An Ifrit," Lucian replies. "I fought these things en masse during my travels in Shurima. Look down at your feet." Obeying, I peer down and find a boiling swamp writhing below me.

"What the hell is this!?"

"The innate power of the Ifrit, _Desertification_, boils everything within a one mile radius. The permafrost beneath us itself has been turned into a swamp! But the most dangerous effect of the power is its combustion! The oxygen around us will slowly be consumed, and substituted with carbon monoxide!"

_We'll slowly be poisoned to death…_ "In that case, let's kill it now."

Lucian looks at me, surprised. Then, he smirks. "How about you time me? Give me one minute."

A moan interrupts that thought. "Have you seen my bear Tibbers?"

I had completely forgotten. "Annie, Tibbers was-" Before I can finish, she rises off the ground, an ominous glare in her eye.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are…" The Ifrit freezes; it slowly turns towards Annie, as we're stunned in silence. With a roar, it suddenly breaks out in a charge-

Before a massive stream of fire erupts from its belly. A full sized bear frees itself from the inside of the Ifrit, returning its roar two fold.

"Found him!" The bear's claws cleave into the Ifrit's skull, refusing to let go. From its stiches, the flames within Tibbers begin to grow hotter. _Desertification_ is only making Tibbers stronger!

The Ifrit seems unfazed as it opens its jaws and releases a fire wheel.

The attack hits Annie dead on, but as the flames clear, a _Molten Shield_ around her absorbs the damage.

"_Disintegrate_!" A massive fireball flies forth, its heat stinging my skin even from over there. The flame completely engulfs the Ifrit's arm and wing. The fiend's eye nearly melts off, and Tibbers continues to claw at its face relentlessly.

"Looks like this is over-"

"Get down!" Lucian grabs the back of my jacket, and throws me away from the ground, before a spectral knight pierces through the ground beneath where I just stood, mud splashing across my face.

A horse's hoof slams down into the ground, nearly crushing my skull if I didn't dodge at the last minute. The ghastly horseman continues on a _Warpath_, swinging its halberd down and across along its _Rampage_. A bounded field encircles us, isolating Annie and the Ifrit from the rest of us. I regain my balance and turn back towards our assailant. It was not just a horseman; it was a more like a centaur. Its legs and chest were bone, its face a floating skull endowed with an ominous smile. A blue ectoplasm emanated from its joints.

"Hecarim," Lucian growls.

Hecarim did not see fit to return the greeting, as it immediately began a _Devastating Charge_ towards me.

_Demonic Feather_!

I charge towards Hecarim rapidly at four times speed for a brief second, sidestepping his attack and leaving a lightning trail behind me, inflicting damage upon him as he moves through it.

"Where the hell did you learn that," Lucian remarks.

"I know a Yordle," I reply, as Hecarim begins his turn. As I move to evade the impact, my feet refuse to move.

"Kira, move! What are you doing!?"

"I'm stuck; what the hell-" The swamp! The undead detritus clings to my feet, freed by the Ifrit's _Desertification_!

And to make matters worth, the _Spirit of Dread_ is draining my strength! I can't move.

Lucian fires a barrage of purifying bullets at Hecarim, but the power he's sapping from us allows him to tank it. His halberd swings down, nearly cleaving straight through me and knocking me back into the edge of the bounded field, an arena of chemical fire.

I cough blood, as I feel the bruises complicating within me. Unlike in my nightmare, my jacket isn't as easy to damage as it looks.

I inhale slowly and recover, taking my stance once more. In front of me, Lucian moves to intercept Hecarim as he violently moves in to continue his _Rampage_. The halberd comes from below, but Lucian does a summersault, completely unaffected by the slow the swamp is imposing. He fires an _Ardent Blaze_, its star burrowing into Hecarim's plating, followed by two shots into the horseman's chest. The star reacts, sizzling painfully. A line of _Piercing Light_ spews forth, but the horseman, narrowly evading it, charges straight towards Lucian, intending to impale him on his spikes.

Somehow, Hecarim completely misses Lucian. Lucian fires off several more shots, almost all of them colliding with Hecarim. No matter how many times Hecarim swings, he completely misses Lucian, all the while the star continues to blaze at his side.

The horseman suddenly pauses, stepping backwards, as the _Ardent Blaze_ begins to cool. In the corner of my eye, Lucian flinches. He starts firing off _The Culling_, a swarm of bullets flying to surround Hecarim. Hecarim sidesteps each, until both the barrage and the star had expired.

Hecarim begins his _Devastating Charge_ once more, this time, his halberd grazing Lucian's coat.

Did he slow down? Did Hecarim get faster?

No, wait, it was the star!

Every time Lucian hit Hecarim, the star sizzled, disorienting Hecarim's internal rhythm. He ended up attacking Lucian's afterimages all that time.

With his _Ardent Blaze_ on cooldown, Lucian is in a world of hurt; as the Halberd becomes increasingly more deadly, it'll sooner or later draw blood.

Outside our deathmatch, Annie is still fighting the Ifrit. Although weakened before, the monster is now turning the tables, assimilating Tibbers' flames instead. Fireball after fireball, the Ifrit just seems to shrug them off as it focuses on devouring Tibbers, starting with its shoulders.

Without any time left to waste, the chain at my side illuminates the darkness. A hurricane of crystal converges into a curved katana, sparkling like diamond.

This is my _Title_. The _Title of Justice_.

The same bolt that manifested in my nightmare, my _Strident Bolt_, channels through my fist and out the blade. At its tip, an orb spiraling as it rapidly discharges lightning is formed.

"_Strident Burst_!" The magnetism of the blade reverses, and the orb is fired towards Hecarim. Outside his field of vision, the bolt pierces through the protection of the _Spirit of Dread_, detonating at his side. Lucian takes the moment to dodge a slightly off course _Rampage_ and fires another _Ardent Blaze_, firmly branding itself into Hecarim's armor.

Adrenaline dulling my fear and my pain, I dash in closer, my eyes bloodshot. Lucian crosses his guns and fires his _Culling_ in a horizontal sweeping motion.

Hecarim nearly leaps over the attack, before a wave of _Piercing Light_ and a _Strident Bolt_ sends him off kilter. Hecarim lands awkwardly as the arena begins to fade. His strength was waning, his breathing (if it is even breathing) ragged.

_Now we'll be able to head towards Annie._

But as soon as I thought that, an emerald chain erupts out the river, hooking onto the torso of an unsuspecting Annie. The chain, sensing it has hit its target, suddenly wraps around her, squeezing down tightly.

"_Hmm, whose mind shall we snap first?_" an ethereal voice rings out.

Suddenly, Lucian's face contorts in rage. "Thresh! You bastard! Come out here where I can shoot you!"

"_Ha ha ha!_" Thresh taunts."_You're falling apart! What to do with the pieces?_"

"I'll have no trouble killing you, and less trouble killing you again! Annie, hurry up and free yourself!"

"…" Annie can't respond.

"_It no use! You can't ignite your inner flame if you can't breathe!_"

Lucian curses. In an instant, the path of ground beneath a full powered _Piercing Light_ is annihilated as it heads straight for Thresh.

But in half that instant, the chain yanks Annie over the river, where a green glowing lantern emerges. Before the light can hit, a blinding flash of green light radiates forth, an ephemeral shield dispersing the attack. By the time I regain my sight, Annie is nowhere to be found, and Lucian's in _Relentless Pursuit_.

"You… bastaaarrrrrd!" I roar as I send a _Strident Burst_ spiraling towards Hecarim.

The centaur stands still, his expression unreadable. Then: "_Behold the might of the Shadow Isles, our Overlord's pride!_"

As he monologues, he unsheathes a hidden weapon near his side: a silver blade clad in an ominous violet aura. Its power engulfs my attack, shattering it in an instant. He raises it towards the sky, and suddenly, its aura completely imprisons me.

_It… it's sapping my strength!_

Vayne and Ahri suddenly return from the woods, covered in dust and shouting something that at this point was unintelligible to me. My consciousness is fading, and I can feel my body withering. They sprint towards me as fast as they can, but a bounded field obstructs their path.

"_Cower! And crumble into darkness!_"

_Onslaught of the Shadows!_

An army of spectral knights led by Hecarim ram into me, their spears tearing through my armor and piercing through my skin, their momentum sending me flying.

This is no longer about fear. No, this is terrifying.

Unable to think, I fall into the depths of the sea.

To Be Continued…

**Author Notes: Sorry about the blue card joke Regi, I still love you! For the people who sat through this chapter, thanks for reading! **

**Also: Tsuki-no translates to "Of the moon," in case anyone was confused about that.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The First Night; The Place Where Power Lies**

"Kira!" Ahri's expression contorts in horror as she watches Kira be impaled by the _Onslaught of Shadows_. His body flies limply through the air, the momentum of the impact sending him crashing into the river. "We've got to save him," she cries.

A thin, rugged hand holds her back by the wrist. "Wait," Vayne cautions. "We don't know what's in that river. If we try to save him, we'll only suffer more damage than we'll take if we fight Hecarim together."

Ahri pauses, her ears drooping down. Her gaze turns hard. "No one will stand in my way."

"That's selfish."

"Yeah, I know it is."

"…" With a sigh, Vayne lets go of Ahri's wrist as the fox girl makes a mad dash towards the river. A defiant growl is heard as the Ifrit strafes to block her.

Ahri leaps into a twirl. An arc of fluorescence loops around the Ifrit as Ahri completes a dash in a flash. The Ifrit chokes as essence bolts detonate at its back.

From the front, three _Silver Bolts_ skewer it, leaving behind a pathetic wail as the Ifrit petrifies into oblivion.

Ahri returns a curt nod for the favor and dives with _splash_.

"If you don't have at least that much resolution, then saving others is impossible." Saying her farewell with a two fingered salute, Vayne turns back towards Hecarim, drawing the massive crossbow across her back.

"_You intend to combat me alone, fledging?_" Hecarim asks.

Vayne remains unfazed. She continues moving forward, shrugging off the pain as she enters the _Spirit of Dread_. "The die is cast," she ritualistically repeats. In the next moment, Hecarim propels himself off the ground, springing towards Vayne using the full power of his hooves. He comes down in a drop, his halberd propped to crush Vayne's skull. At the last moment, Vayne _Tumbles_ to her right, firing a large _Silver Bolt_ into Hecarim's side. As its arrowhead pierces through, a cloud of steam escapes with a _hiss_…

Hecarim pauses, seemingly unfazed. But Vayne knew it must have hurt. In less than half a second, she inserts and pulls back with superhuman strength the second bolt. It flies straight towards Hecarim's skull.

In the next instant, Hecarim backs up, letting the bolt fly past his face while swinging his halberd towards Vayne's bottom right in the same motion. She flips over it and fires two bolts in quick succession towards Hecarim's legs. The centaur jumps once more-

But Vayne is nowhere to be seen, her double evaporating into a colony of bats. Hecarim turns left, then right- behind him, Vayne's cloak casts a crescent shadow.

"Hitting me is like boxing with shadows." A massive stake drenched in silver fires with a _bang_! The impact is enough to knock Hecarim straight back to Valoran. Before he even hits the ground, a crack rings out as a second bolt fires in the shadow of the first, the dual impact _Condemning_ Hecarim back into the ground, kicking up a cloud of rock and dust. As Hecarim struggled to recover, something shatters within him. A torrent of ectoplasm erupts from his chest as silver ravages his body, the trinity of three bolts synchronizing within him.

Losing his composure, Hecarim lets loose a beast's roar, the _Spirit of Dread_ flaring up. Ignoring the bolts Vayne continues to fire off in rapid succession, Hecarim charges forth once more.

_Onslaught of Shadows!_

From the raging flames, spectral riders are born, their lances charging straight towards Vayne. She _Tumbles_ forward, the spear tips penetrating through nothing but bats. Reappearing behind Hecarim, she continues to fire bolt after bolt without pause. The Shadow of War and his knights ride erratically through the arena, but Vayne evades them by hairs with _Tumble_ after _Tumble_. The damage mounts on Hecarim and an on point bolt manages to stagger him. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Vayne readies her _Condemn_ with a sleight of hand, taking careful aim of the finishing blow.

But before she can fire, Hecarim draws the _Blade of the Ruined King_ once more. The knights howl as they converge into a tornado of deformed spirits, spiraling towards Vayne as a horrific drill.

With a curse, Vayne attempts to _Condemn_ the amalgamation, but the bolt bounces off like rubber. With another _Tumble_, Vayne manages to dodge the drill, shortly before a ghastly aura engulfs her.

The silver blade; no, silver's bane; saps Vayne's strength. It leaked out like a faucet to be drunk by Hecarim, his strength overflowing. The petrifying portions of his body were gradually regaining their former luster. Beginning a _Devastating Charge_, Hecarim easily closes the distance between them and swings the blade twice.

In her lethargic state, Vayne could not do much but divert the first, minimizing the damage to a graze. But the second swing comes hard, slashing across her torso without resistance. Vayne coughs in agony as the sword steals even more of her strength. Barely managing a _Tumble_, a third swing is met by bats. They evaporate back into the shadows from whence they came before the power of the sword, whose aura writhed as it searched for Vayne.

There weren't many options left. The last attack had critically injured Vayne, who wore little armor to maximize her mobility. Fortunately, the clothes she wore were woven to prioritize her stealth above all else. It was nearly impossible for Vayne to leave a blood trail, as her cloak was enchanted to soak and clot her wounds.

But she was still trapped in the _Spirit of Dread_. As long as the bounded field persisted, she could not leave without Hecarim, and the blade, from noticing. Hiding in the shadow of a nearby tree, Vayne would not have much time remaining.

The aura hisses violently as it detects Vayne's presence. Hecarim dashes towards a tree trunk, his knee crushing straight through Vayne's head, and sending the log straight over her body with a _crunch_.

Skeptical, Hecarim peers below the bark. The mud was stained red and the remains of a shattered crossbow lay in shambles within. Refusing to leave any loose ends, Hecarim brings down his hooves and stomps straight through the tree trunk several times over, leaving only a pile of rumble by the end of it. Eradicating any shred of doubt left in his mind, Hecarim sees fit to take his leave, riding straight across the sea's surface.

As soon as the coast was clear, a cough could be heard as Vayne crawls out of the mud mere steps away from her double.

"That god damn bastard; nearly trampled me by coincidence," Vayne mutters while wiping her goggles. She pauses to glance towards the remains of her crossbow, having had to sacrifice it for her deception. A feeling comparable to despair looms over Vayne; the _Blade of the Ruined King_ was even more fearsome than she had anticipated, endlessly sapping her strength and augmenting its wielder's. Without her crossbow, how could she even hope to combat it?

Should she go back and repair it? After coming this far?

Unthinkable.

The Night Hunter does not run from confrontation. She will have to make do with the mini-bow propped against her wrist. But the problem of transport remained. The ship had been destroyed by the Ifrit. Vayne begins strolling through the forest, looking for something sharp. She'll have to construct her own.

* * *

><p>His body drifts farther and farther down into the sea. Unconscious, Kira slowly drowns without resistance. Above land, a lithe woman with nine, snow white tails dives into the water, her eyes narrowed into slits as she scans for Kira. She catches a rustle in the darkness, a body being carried away by the current. Ahri's legs tense back and snap straight; a silent shockwave's let loose as she propels like a torpedo, her <em>Spirit Rush<em> leaving a trail of ripples sparkling like sapphire in her wake. Riding with the current, she rapidly approaches Kira within seconds, a mere arm's length remaining between them. Before she can reach him, a geyser erupts in front of her, negating her momentum. Under the cover of bubbles, a shoal of piranhas completely surrounds Ahri, drawing pints from her one by one.

"Okay, play time's over!" Ahri's tails disturb the space around her. They snap, and a triad of turquoise flame spirals out, evaporating the water, frying the fish.

_Huh!?_

Though charred like charcoal, the piranhas spring back completely unfazed. The _Fox-Fire_ seems to have affected nothing but the fluidity of their movement. A worm writhes within each of them, glowing ominously as the piranhas' jaws latch onto Ahri.

_These fish are just hosts for these parasites! If this goes on any further, they'll possess me instead!_

The water vapor disperses, allowing water to converge back towards Ahri. As it shoves against her back, her _Spirit Rush_ in tandem allows her to regain her momentum. As she moves, a translucent orb illuminates the sea. With a high-pitched _crack_, it begins to roll rapidly across Ahri's curves, colliding with the stray passengers. As the _Orb_ _of Deception_ closes in, the piranhas begin to distort. They're sucked away, the Orb completely devouring their essence.

Five meters; four, three, two, one- her slender hand struggles to take hold of Kira. _Almost there, Almost there; just a little more._ She reaches out desperately past a single centimeter to take ahold of his ankle.

The tides turn twice; no longer able to escape the force of nature, Ahri squeezes tightly as a whirlpool throws them into the hands of fate.

* * *

><p>As the ship was incinerated, Jayce found himself jumping into the river. Having improvised his stance, his landing was unideal, and he was carried away by the rapids some distance downstream before finally landing on the opposite half of the island. As he pulled himself to land with a tree branch, it proceeded to lunge at his forehead. Before it could reach, its base was crushed by the force of Jayce's grip, a glowing sap leaking out as it died.<p>

Jayce peered back towards the other half of the island, where his crewmates had landed. He contemplated swimming back, but the tides were changing. Something was moving through it. Deciding against it, Jayce sat down on a nearby boulder and began squeezing his clothes dry. Without their ship, he may not reach the heart of the Shadow Isles in one piece. He began to assess his surroundings; perhaps he could construct makeshift raft out of the decaying trees? It was of the utmost importance for them to reach the Shadow Isles as soon as possible.

He thought of Siegfried. A diligent worker, he had quickly risen to favor with the Defender of Tomorrow. He impressed Jayce, and the champion had very quickly offered a starting internship to the man.

A couple of weeks ago, Siegfried arrived late for the first time since his three month employment. Time passed, his attendance only deteriorating with it. Suspiciously citing a persistent cold, the man was clearly worn out, but not sick.

Then, one day, he mysteriously disappeared altogether. Phone calls went to voicemail and letters stacked. Without any way to contact Siegfried, Jayce went to the two investigators he trusted most.

But even Officer Caitlyn and Explorer Ezreal could not pick up the trail. A stench stank through the city, just out of view. It unnerved Jayce, and would for three more days, until that man would walk into his office the third.

"You can't go in there," his secretary frantically insisted.

"I need to speak with Jayce," a male's voice calls out, its pitch a little low. "Tell him it's of the utmost importance!"

"…Send him in," Jayce sighed. The rustlings stopped, and moments later, his door slid open, a mid-height boy walking in unfettered wearing dark pants and a black undershirt. His jacket matched that scheme, but across his clothes ran pearl white striations, their pattern irregular. Behind him, Ahri's fishtail braid swung lightly as she did a ditzy bow, as if unable to read the atmosphere. "Can I… help you two?" Jayce said as he unwound his palms.

"First, let me apologize for barging straight into your office," the man said, "but I have a request for you. We need you to lend us a ship. One that will get to the Shadow Isles." He had not seen it, but Jayce felt as if his face had stretched into a grimace of disbelief.

"Why would you want to do that," he skeptically asked, slurring his words with his lower lip.

"There's been an abundance of disappearances in Piltover, and Vayne believes it to be the work of black magics." Jayce turned pale at that. "According to her, the Shadow Isles are somehow connected to them. That's why we need your ship," the man concluded with urgency.

For a moment, they had let the silence hang. "…Do you think he'll agree if we say 'please'?" Ahri whispered.

Before the boy could respond, the echo of Jayce's laugh had broken the silence. "Yeah, yeah, I'll lend you a boat. As long as you say please." He continued to laugh as he reached for the phone and made the appropriate calls.

"That's great! I'll go tell Vayne right away."

"Ah, Ahri wait-" It was too late to stop Ahri; she had already dashed out of the room. The boy; who looked twenty-two, twenty-five at the oldest; scratched his head exhaustively before turning back towards Jayce. "Are you _really_ going to lend us a ship?"

"Well of course," he responded. "I never go back on my word. I just have one condition though. Tell Vayne she has to take me with her."

"With her? Why would you want to come?"

"For one, I don't back down when my people are being threatened by the hour. They wouldn't call me the 'Defender of Tomorrow' if I did. For another, one of my colleagues has recently disappeared himself. I intend to fix that." At that, the man smiled in satisfaction, expecting no less from Jayce's answer. "…By the way, I didn't catch your name."

"It's Kira."

A splash in the water recalled his attention. The waters twisted and turned as something brutishly made its way towards Jayce. Drawing closer, the waters began to churn more violently, as a drenched figure emerged onto land.

"Y-You!" Jayce stammered.

* * *

><p>"Wake up! Wake up!"<p>

_Slap!_

"_Cough, cough!_"

Ahri knells over Kira as he expels water from his lungs. His face is painted a dark blue, his breathing unstable. A tattered jacket caked in red covers his chest. After floating through the sea, unable to clot, his blood continues to leak. Ahri bites down on her lower lip as she lays her palm on top of his wounds. Her _Orb of Deception_ hovers over Kira, morphing towards a warm green. Fur begins to grow across Ahri's skin, her spine twisting at the neck.

A weak hand tugs at her wrist. Through her blurred vision, a young man faintly shakes his head once. There was no force to his grip. What to do, what to do; she was hesitating while Kira was dying. She should just shake off his hand now and save him anyway.

"…" Tears fall across Kira's face as Ahri rips apart the red sleeves of her dress, tightly tying them over his wounds. She places her head above his chest- a faint heartbeat, an irregular rhythm. Her own weighs heavily as she ignites her _Fox-Fire_, its warmth gently drying them off.

With nothing left to do, Ahri walks across the beachside, the terrain completely clear of debris. Where were they? She looks out into the distance and sees the island they fought on only moments ago. The whirlpool must've carried them out, and now, they were situated on the very island they intended to invade. An intimidating mountain obstructs her view into the core of the isles. Unlike the island before them, this one was lined with trees that could almost be called healthy, if they weren't so obviously haunted of course. The treeline twisted its way to the heavens. As her eyes turn towards the moon, the clear sky sparkling with stars, her hands clasp together.

"Humans believe in beings higher than themselves," Ahri says, her voice subdued. She slowly knells on the beach in silence save for the sound of the sea. "They live at the top of the food chain, so why? As a fox, humans were my 'Gods'. I admired them, but I never understood them. Is that the same for humans? Do they admire Gods, but not understand them? Where are they now? What do they do, and what do they want? Beings beyond your comprehension- their intents must be equally incomprehensible. Then I ask you God: please, stay that way. For whatever reason, in whatever way I cannot fathom, save him. That is my 'prayer'."

* * *

><p>I lay on a beach face up feeling like a fish on land. I struggle and choke for a while before remembering how to breathe. My torso flares up as I try to move. A crimson sash constricts me; keeping my wounds in check. I try to get up, but the pain and disorientation keep me down. Unable to think clearly, I resign myself to running my fingers through the coarse sand beneath me.<p>

Over to my side, a figure lies curled up on her side, her tails stacking up against each other, covering as a makeshift blanket. Her chest rises and falls, the edge of her eyes tender and moist.

I curse to myself. Once again, I'm the one being saved.

The waters stand still, allowing the moon's reflection to gently settle in. But in time, the tides will turn once more, and its light will scatter. Even now, its edges simmer loosely. The power of the moon does not belong to its reflection. It is a fake, to be swept up by the churning waters and disappearing on a whim.

Is it just a dream? Being a champion does not confer power; it is that those who possess power become champions. I am not a champion, for I am powerless.

The rustlings of the sand alert me.

"Mmm… ah, I fell asleep," Ahri mutters to herself. "…You awake?"

"Yeah," I answer, my voice still raspy.

"…Where do we go now?"

"Isn't it obvious? We're already here."

Ahri's gaze droops down, first at the sand, then at my wounds. "We don't have to if you don't want to."

"…I should start by thanking you for saving me. Again."

Ahri muses to herself momentarily. "Of course I would. You can't die without my permission."

I laugh aloud, before being consequently silenced by pain. "I appreciate the sentiment."

"I was being serious," she pouts.

"And I was too. My resolve isn't so flimsy as to falter from a flesh wound."

"Indulge me."

"I. Will. Be. The. One."

"Yeah, that's right…" Ahri serenely smiles at my words. "What about now, huh? Damn hypocrite!"

"Ah ha, sorry about that…"

_That's right I need more power. This is just another stepping stone._

"Oh, that's right," I stammer, "what are we going to do about Vayne? And Lucian, and Jayce, and the rest of them?"

Ahri smirks. "Absolutely nothing. They're champions after all. Champions can take care of themselves. Mmm… knowing them, they'll all head towards the center themselves. We just need to keep moving on."

The truth sinks in slowly, and a different, aspiring, admiring ambition comes to fruition.

_That's right… They aren't champions for nothing. If they're champions, then they should have at least that much resolve._

The _Title of Justice_ scorches the skin around my arm. The place where power lies- the Shadow Isles, the League of Legends- I'll make it there.

To Be Continued...

**Author Notes: I'll be updating one chapter every two to three days. This is the first time I've ever written fanfiction, so I'm pretty nervous. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Second Night; The Silence is to Be Feared**

I wake up groggy, my side throbbing painfully. I couldn't tell what time it is. The cover of clouds blanketed the sky, completely blocking out the rays of the sun. My mouth feels like sandpaper from a lack of water, and there was no chance in hell that I was going to gamble on the muck in the sea. There better be water over that cliff; otherwise, I'll die of thirst before I die to the undead.

My chest still stings from yesterday's injuries. I groan and prop myself off the ground. Something heavy falls out my jacket, landing with a _clink_. I turn back and pick it up; it was a revolver. Its barrel was smooth, made of iron and a black casing embellished with gold. The handle was wooden and the color of smooth, coated bark. I point it towards the distance and pull the trigger.

_Click_.

Nothing.

* * *

><p>"It won't fire if you don't have resolve," Jayce had said.<p>

"Why do I need this need this thing?" I asked while examining the weapon's exterior. "It's not like I need a weapon to defend myself."

"First of all, that 'thing' has a name. It's a _Hextech Revolver_, and it's for healing."

"H-healing?" I stammered incredulously. "How is a gun supposed to _heal _me? Am I supposed to shoot myself and wait for the wound to _heal_?"

"Don't sweat the details. All you need to know is that it works," Jayce said as he waves me away, his expression serious. "It'll come in handy."

* * *

><p>I want to believe in Jayce, but I still can't wrap my mind around the concept of a gun that heals. Then again, I can't even ignite the damn thing, so I guess it doesn't really matter in the end. A sigh alerts me to Ahri, who writhes and rolls across the ground as if trying to scratch a bad itch. After half a minute of this, she grudgingly opens her eyes and picks herself up off the ground. In a moment, she'll be ready to depart.<p>

I return to the revolver and take two deep breathes, concentrating on where the cartridge should be. In, out, in, out; I pull the trigger.

_Click_.

Nothing.

* * *

><p>A dark hand erupts from the surface of the murky water. It struggles to grab a hold of the wet bedrock. Lucian pulls himself out of the dirty mess, completely drenched, his coat tarnished with mud. He tries to catch his breath, expelling the water from his lungs. It was dark. He was in a cavern of some sort. Stalagmites rise one and a half meters high off the ground. Hoards of moss glowing a faint pale scatter across the cave. Puddles litter the floor and carve curves through the stone. Lucian props himself against a wall, the light barely illuminating his silhouette.<p>

_Drip_.

He surveys his surroundings warily; years of the dark crawling by his side had built Lucian's temperance, but never had it set him into complacency.

Except once.

But he would not dwell on that. There was no need to. Focus on the mission. Where is Thresh? Where did he take Annie? Why did he take Annie? As fast as he was, as tenacious and as relentless as he may be, it was unrealistic to expect Lucian to outrun the _Dark Passage_. With no other option, he evaded the advent of a whirlpool by escaping through a crevasse in the side of the island, eventually surfacing in this depressing cavern.

_Drip._

The sound of dripping water disturbs the silence. Lucian exhales and lets his shoulders fall. His breath grazing against his skin, the beat of his heart; they were all proof of his life. Natural.

_Drip_.

Fear comes not from the dark itself but the silence that comes with it; the embodiment of nothingness, the sound of the abyss. Even in isolation, a ring persists in the ears; a white noise that assures Lucian of his life, an annoyance he wasn't willing to part with. That persistent sound, which never gives up, is all he has left.

_Drip._

The ceiling rose what seemed to be about six meters high. There were no signs of direction; the cavern was completely open with only moss to mark the walls and spikes. Lucian wets his finger and raises it to the air; a breeze blows right. He heads right.

* * *

><p>There seemed to be no end to the cavern and its trademark moss. After an hour of carefully creeping behind stalagmites under the cover of darkness, Lucian had yet to sense any sign of an exit. The ceiling stayed level for the most part, so there was no significant change in elevation. In that case, how much further would he have to go?<p>

…

Lucian tenses; the dripping had stopped. The seconds tick by, and still, the sound refused to return. He tightens his grips, the smooth marble of the pistols warming to the touch. They glow a moonlight's white, pearls piercing the darkness. The shadows cringe back from the light, revealing the rough, grey floor and the clumps of stalagmites.

Nothing.

Yet something.

A trickle of water escapes Lucian's hair, crawling down, down, down, until it crept to the bottom of his chin. He stood stock still, teeth grit, patiently playing the waiting game.

The droplet hangs unsteadily. It stretched and trembled.

It drops.

It falls.

_Drip_.

"_FOUND YOU!_" A terrifying screech echoes out. The ground shakes violently, the water jumps erratically; a serpent slides past Lucian's ankles, slipping straight towards the source of the disturbance. The howl continues, the water kicks, and an unending stream of snakes slither together, assembling into a writhing distortion in the darkness.

Unfazed, Lucian fires a line of _Piercing Light_, penetrating straight through the amalgamation. A sputtering sound- a spurt of warm liquid splatters across the floor. He fires again, and again. The bolts detonate, chunking the creature with every blow. It shakes in pain, before a pair of twin tendrils erupt towards Lucian. He glides left, then rolls, narrowly evading both. Suddenly, they slide across the floor, and wrap around behind. Two snakes fire with a _hiss _from the creature before him. Lucian narrowly sidesteps one, but the other grapples with his right ankle, setting him off kilter.

"Guh!" The tendrils shoot out, striking straight through Lucian's side. He fires his pistols thrice, eradicating the serpents from existence. A flash of light- a clump of snakes. Before him was a growing clump of black mambas. The corpses Lucian clipped are crushed in the slithering mass as snake after snake appears to replace them. It grows at an alarming rate; Lucian points 'S' forward, firing a cluster of light. It crashes into the mass, exploding into a blazing cross, staggering the creature.

It begins to recover, palpitating as it grows with a startling rapidity. Before the thing can expand to twice Lucian's height, he fires a barrage of bolts, each projectile of _The_ _Culling_ shattering into shining shards with every hit. As a torrent of blood rains across the field, so do thirteen tendrils. They curve across the walls, gliding towards Lucian's jugular. He dashes right behind the cover of stalagmites, kicking up a mist of essence as he moves. The snakes move in hot pursuit, undeterred. Refusing to stop firing, Lucian turns his weapons towards the tendrils, melting through stone and sniping them one by one. He bounces off the wall and turns his attention back towards the monster, firing as he carves an arc across the air. Several snakes shoot straight towards Lucian, but instead meet purifying fire. Still airborne, he turns back to the creature. The mass suddenly expands. The tension builds, its edges bulge-

_BOOM_!

The creature erupts, sending a storm of serpents straight towards Lucian. He curses, as his _Piercing Light_ carves an ellipse straight through the barrier. Something sizzles across his wound, and he lets out a cry in pain. He butchers the landing, slipping on the snake corpses and the lubricant covering them. His teeth clatter as he falls stiff to the floor. Something isn't right. He can't move the way he wants to. His vision flickered and he wounds leaked something awful. Lucian tries to prop himself up, but the bruises across his chest, and the shaking in his bones keep him close to the ground. The sound of fizzling captures his attention. Something festered within his wounds, as if bubbling, sending streaks of pain through his limbs. He chokes, tears ducts in agony. Hot, hot, hot- a paralyzing venom boils through his veins.

The snakes cluster once more, reaching gigantic proportions. It lets loose a disharmonic hiss, springs back, and lashes out. Lucian shoves himself sideways, narrowly avoid its swing. The bedrock crumbles, mud caking Lucian as he slid.

A nerve pops in his forehead. Through sheer force of will, he picks himself off the ground, releasing a battle cry towards the heavens. The amalgamation jiggles, expelling a fountain of venom across Lucian. He lets himself bath in its acid. In his coat, he reaches…

The snake-monger divides in two. It double teams Lucian from left and right. Crushed serpents spill across the floor as they crash into each other.

His coattails flutter; a _Quicksilver Sash_ clings to his waist as Lucian flies skyward. A cleansing light crackles across his skin, the venomous vapor eradicated from his body. He readies his pistols once more, his eyes narrowed. A heat emanates; the terrain is engulfed in a beam of light, targeting the core of the creature. He fires indiscriminately, a rain of death hailing down against the sea of serpents. The cavern lights up, illuminated by an inferno of purification. The hellfire scorches their skin, sending them into a white oblivion. He lands cleanly; the titan of snakes lay felled. A clump of serpents rolls out of the corpse, a red core throbbing at their center. Lucian fires, the shots barely grazing the core as it turned erratically in avoidance. It bounces and escapes a line of _Piercing Light_, disappearing into the darkness.

"Get back here!" he shouts, wasting no time to pursue. A pair of red eyes stares after him, safe in the shadows. They wait a while, blink, and disappear.

_Drip_.

* * *

><p>The forest was plagued by the evening fog. Trees walking the edge between life and death towered three meters above me. Their bark was rotten and haunted by an eerie pestilence, yet their leaves were unnaturally smooth and plastic with neon green highlights. A persistent gust impedes our march, warning us back. The branches sway synchronously, rattling against each other. Everything from the sky to the earth was outlined by a supernatural afterglow. I clutch the revolver tightly. Breathe in, breathe out. I take slow and simple breathes, careful not to agitate my wounds.<p>

But what was agitating me more than my wounds was this infernal ringing in my ears. The paranoia settles in; the branches moved liked arms, drawing closer with every waking moment. They periodically stood in our way, as if herding sheep to a slaughter. I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched, sending shivers down my spine.

Ahri takes notice of my anxiety and perks up. "Don't worry," she reassures, "we'll kill it when we see it."

"That's supposed to cheer me up!?" I found it difficult to criticize her carefree expression any further and gave up on that endeavor. With a sigh, I stare back up towards the sky. As expected, there wasn't a single sign of daybreak; just a neutral, grey sky. A breeze blows by, rustling the hair just above my eyes. It sends us a warning, imploring us to turn back while we still had the chance. The shadows crept; they twisted and turned and slowly encroached upon us.

And yet somehow, my terror was fading. Fading from fear and falling towards fury. What the hell does this thing want with us?

Whatever.

We'll kill it when we see it.

To Be Continued...

**Author Notes: God damn, I took **_**waaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy**_** too long to update this thing! My excuse? Well, it's not very good. Basically, I got too caught up in playing League of Legends since I really wanted to get Diamond. Now that I've actually done it, it's a lot easier to get back into writing. Other than that, I was also busy with real life stuff and watching LCS and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, but I don't really think that's a good excuse either. I scraped this chapter over and over since I wasn't satisfied with the writing, and I did about three hours' worth of review until I was finally satisfied with this version. But in any case, I'm already two pages in to chapter 4 and I'm looking to get that uploaded tomorrow (but it might get delayed due to extensive review :/). I also did some champion design. But yeah, sorry about the delay for this chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: The Second Night; What They Desire**

A massive splinter heads on a direct course for my pupil; before it reaches, a snow white tail swipes it away. The forest groans in agitation against the howling wind. "Careful," I advise, "these trees try to ensnare you in a nightmare."

"Try to keep up," Ahri replies. The branches before of us untangle and shoot straight at us. She kicks forward and twirls through the air, slipping past each and every arm by a hair's breadth. An aura of _Fox-Fire_ explodes from her core, turning the forest into cinder. A pale ectoplasm oozes from the trees as they incinerate. Roots unearth themselves below me and swing at my ankles. I jump, escaping through the blue inferno on my way out, leaving the forest to be smothered by flames. It's been five hours now since we left the beach; now, the peak above us seemed finally within reach. A rocky surface at the top of the mountain several miles wide divides the grey horizon. I run a little faster, eager to be free of the haunted forest.

My vision shakes; a darkness creeps at its edge.

_Zzzzzzzzzz…_

A static throbs within my ears. It speaks something unintelligible, intonating in its strange highs and lows. The trees around me stretch and bend towards me. I dodge their arms, crashing _Strident Bolts_ into their hulls.

_Shhhhh…_

The power behind my blow was minimal, leaving only an electrifying fizzle instead of the usual detonation. They have no trouble shedding their melting exteriors, leaving discolored limbs plagued by a myriad of infections. They split open at five sides, letting bloom a brood of bloody parasites, their miniature fangs thirsting for blood.

_ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ…_

The static grows louder. I try to put it out of my mind, but I can't seem to focus. Another wave of lashes; I grab two by the base, their worms snapping at my face.

_Splat!_

I crush them into pulp and toss them aside. The remaining branches blindside me. I aim my _Hextech Revolver_

_Click_.

Damn it! I duck, ramming a weak _Strident Bolt_ into one, my eyes frantically flicking to the next. A pair of roots entangle my feet- a branch strikes at my chest. I struggle to extricate myself from the trap and fall to the ground instead. My eyes widen as their arms reach down and wrap around my neck.

The entire terrain disappears. I'm back in the fog- the world of nightmares that captured me before. Although I escaped before, I have no idea as to how to do so now. Realizing the nature of the dream clearly wasn't enough.

A torrent of shadows exhales from fog. It spirals into a vague, its limbs contorted and spine out of sorts. The static grows louder, like a megaphone screaming in my ears.

_ZZZZZZ…_ _WHAT… YOU… ZZZZZ…_

I can start to make out words. The terror returns two fold. Am I… seriously scared? It's just a dream- I try to tell myself that, but my pulse only rises. It's hard to swallow; what's so scary about this guy!?

_WHAT… Zzzzz… DO YOU… DESIRE… zzzz..._

What do I desire? The static grows clearer by the second.

_WHAT DO YOU DESIRE?_

The fog disperses. Warm, surreal colors of every shade spills against the forest, as if the world of a painting had been brought to life. I raise my arm to cover my eyes from the blinding light that shone through each and every nook and cranny. Something purple danced through the thick bushes; no, there were more, and of every color imaginable and unimaginable, all frolicking whimsically without any regard to the outside world. The air was pleasant and thick with mana, twisting proportions. A mystical land of eternal spring- that was the nature of The Glade.

A black faerie twirls around me, hovering an inch away.

"_WHAT DO YOU DESIRE?_" it asks again. I look around. The edges of my figure begin to transform, fading away into the torrent of colors. My mind clouds; the feeling of fear is the only thing that keeps me rooted to the earth. I could disappear at any moment. Become lost in this field of dreams. Return to the comfort of my origin.

Like hell I will.

My revolver ignites. A teal flame tears through the cartridge, overflowing from the barrel. I take aim at the shadow.

_ BANG!_

A bullet trails out, hitting the faerie right between the eyes. As it crumbles back into the shadows, the scenery begins to fade. I close my eyes.

And wake up still pinned against the ground. I breathe in deep and ignite the revolver once more, tilting it towards the branch.

_BANG!_

It shatters into goo and jumps into the barrel. My side begins to itch, like its stitching back together. I guess this was what Jayce meant when he said it was for healing. Three blazing bullets fly towards the remaining branches. One hits but the others miss altogether. They sweep at my gun, but I lean back and fire at the main body. A howl of pain- an orb smashes through its trunk, completely absorbing the matter it collides with.

I check the cartridge. The flame streams outwards without rest from every opening. There was no need to reload this thing. As long as I had the resolve, this thing could fire endlessly.

_ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ…_

The static returns once more. I shoot wildly at each tree, gradually stealing back my health. With every fizzling hole I made in a tree, my side wound burn hotter as I healed.

"_WHAT DO YOU DESIRE?_" A voice calls out. I turn towards its source. The tree's trunk had split horizontally, resembling a mouth. It shoves itself off the ground, releasing its roots, curling them into a plethora of one-joint legs. From its back, a barrage of thorns fires at me. I stand my ground and quick draw several shots into its legs. A wave of _Fox-Fire_ engulfs the splinters, converting them to ashes before they touch my skin.

I turn towards Ahri. "You done over there?"

"You need to ask?" she replies, several logs of firewood burning behind her. The black tree swings its branches at my head. Ahri's orb curves upwards and amputates the limb before it even comes close.

"_WHAT DO YOU DESIRE?_" It calls once more, instilling terror once more. Why can't I shake this feeling? I fire two more times. They scatter against the tree's hull, dealing next to no damage. Ahri tackles me to the side, as a massive spike breaks through the ground where I just stood. It shakes, then returns back to the earth. I fire several more shots, but they fade away before they even reach their target. Turning around, I outrun a few swipes; the creature stomps slowly after me. It leaps into the air, evading a passing orb while breaking into a spin. The air shoves an ember of _Fox-Fire_ away. I bounce of the ground as the tree lands.

_Click_.

The gun stops working. I spam its trigger, but it refuses to fire. My legs are weak; I'm unable to run. It turns towards me; the bark trembles and pulls back. A payload of blackened thorns sit ready to be fired.

_Click. Click. Click._ Why won't this thing work!? Stop panicking, stop panicking! Focus on the cartridge!

_Click_. This piece of crap!

The thorns fire, cleaving through air.

Screw this; I toss the revolver to the ground.

_Surging Shockwave_!

My palms point sideways and fire two spheres of energy. They pause briefly, before launching forward in an arc straight in front of me, crashing together, detonating in a flash of light and nearly knocking me back. A crater sits at the point of collision; the thorns were reduced to dust.

Three blue wheels of flame spin towards the tree. It swipes them away, the infernos failing to catch it despite engulfing everything else around it. I crouch and retrieve the revolver. Steam runs out from its cartridge. I aim it once more.

_Click_.

This thing changes its mind like a girl changes clothes.

"Stop overthinking," Ahri advises as she slides next to me.

"You're speaking critically," I reply.

"Well, it's not like you were ever in sync with that thing."

"Next you're gonna say that I'm a dead battery," I muse.

"Huh, how did you know?" she blinks.

"…Never mind."

"_WHAT DO YOU DESIRE?_"

"Let's kill this thing first," I say.

Ahri nod. I shove the revolver back into my pocket; the stinging sensation has disappeared, and the injuries I suffered were all but naught. The chain locked to my right wrist exhausts an electric blue. A lattice layers over itself, over and over, extending into a blade like diamond, long as two arms. It crackles, radiating a fiery energy across the field.

"_Strident_," I call out; the name of my power, whose origins lie in the _Title of Justice_, the chain gripping my wrist, "_Burst_!" I swing the sword. A storm of lightning rips through the air, a charging orb riding its wave. Before the tree can evade, it smashes into its side, detonating into a thousand shards, lodging a smaller orb in its side.

_Demonic Feather_! I charge at it at triple speed, electricity expelling from every step, and leap, ramming my blade into the orb. It grinds into the tree, knocking it asunder. From behind, the _Orb of Deception_ rings loud, driving into the tree from multiple angles at once. It chunks the tree, literally, repeatedly, leaving portions hanging loosely on its body as the orb steals more and more essence with every pass. Its sides split, and a pair of black tendrils swerve to impale me faster than I can react. A pink heart flies into the tree, dispersing into a paralyzing static across the monster just before I'm skewered.

"How _Charming_," Ahri jokes. I sigh and shake my head; at least, it's on my shoulders.

The monster quivers. Its hull bursts into pieces, falling to the ground at the same time as a black figure- the same from my dream.

"_WHAT DO YOU DESIRE?_" it calls once more.

"…Any idea why it keeps saying that?" I ask.

"Hm?" Ahri raises an eyebrow. "Saying what?"

I blink in confusion. Was I the only one that could hear it?

It contorts and cartwheels to flank us. A flash later and _Strident Burst_ streams straight at it. It stretches, and the attack passes right through. The shadow stops and breaks into a stampede, its limbs flailing wildly. Ahri dashes between us, a flurry of clear _Essence Bolts_ launched at the figure. It thins out into a net, every attack passing through, and condenses back to drive a black drill towards Ahri's abdomen. I push her aside and block it with _Strident_, the crystal grinding against the deceptively durable drill. Our eyes lock; its glare pierces something deep within.

"Ohhhhh!" I shout and shove the shadow off of me. When I turn back it continues its disconcerting stare. Static drowns out everything else. It pulls back its limbs and beings charging, drawing a typhoon into its grasp. Ahri's tails lock into the dirt; I struggle to hold on to a boulder. The eye of the storm emits a dark violet static.

_ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!_

It rams the sphere into the earth, knocking me back with an earthquake. Debris pelts me into a tree, while Ahri's knocked into the air. She makes and aerial recovery, but a violet beam intercepts her, and she's forced to block with her tails, smoking rising from their fur. A blade swings from the shadow's side, only to be blocked by its drill. It forms a second and stabs at my neck. I deflect it with my wrist and drive a _Strident Bolt_ towards its head. Electricity discharges from my fist, fracturing its face; yet it remains unfazed. Its arms pull back and fuse into a blade, coming down into a swing to bisect me. _Strident_ stands in its way, sparks flying where they met.

A heat wave rushed past as _Fox-Fires_ home in on the shadow. It expands once more to dodge; the _Fox-Fires_ suddenly spin, amassing a fireball wider than the figure. It tries to pull away; my right hand seizes its neck and yanks it back.

It stops resisting and grabs the _Title of Justice_. I flinch back instinctively. A smirk widens on its mug. As it's about to lunge, the flames consume the shadow midway. The shadow writhes as it disintegrates into a cloud of ashes. I grab my wrist tightly.

"What's wrong?" Ahri asks as she jumps over, the blaze still burning before us.

"…Huh? What do you mean?"

"You look… distraught," she answers.

"Oh, I do?" I wonder aloud. I immediately correct it. "It's nothing; he managed to grab my _Title_. I was just startled. For now, let's just keep moving."

_Zzzzzzzzz…_

I whirl around, scanning every inch of the forest.

Nothing.

I take a deep breath and limp back towards the horizon, beginning our ascent once more.

Ahri looks at me with her lips cracked open, a tinge of white showing past them. She decides to put it past her and catches up to me. I peak under my shirt.

"What are you doing?" she asks.

"Ah, I was just checking my wounds," I reply. "This is really weird though; there's not a scratch left. How does a revolver heal better than drugs?"

"It probably uses _Spell Vamp_," Ahri remarks. "It converts spell damage into essence and steals it back for you. That's how my orb used to operate too."

"Used to?" I ask, puzzled.

"It's… it's a long story," she says with her head down. I leave it at that.

* * *

><p>Whatever trees were up here, I was thankful that they were the typical dead ones scattered here and there. I break out into a run with Ahri following suit, and stop at the top of the mountain.<p>

No sun still. I sigh in mild disappointment, but as a consolation, I'm compensated with a bird's eye view of the core of the isles. As expected, it was largely depressing. The undead forest seems to have finally died as withered, leafless trees littered the hill below us, in clumps thick enough to pose us a minor nuisance. At its end, however, a village sat, devoid of light or people in general. It was fairly small, lying in two kilometer circle. As night began to pass, it became difficult to see, but from what Ahri could tell, a crossroads of sort extended out from the settlement, heading towards the rest of the Shadow Isles. I point towards what looks to be a well near the edge its borders; Ahri nods and we carefully step down the slope.

The thing we saw prior was in fact a well, and we pull up a bucket of water, purifying it with _Fox-Fire_ just in case. Its pulley squeaks with every turn of the rope; rust settled on its sides. We take long, greedy gulps, the warm water stinging my throat. I ignore it and keep drinking.

_Splash_!

We drop the bucket back into the well. I sit on the ledge, pushing off my palms to relax. Around us, the dwellings and roads were built out of brick. Little regard towards color was made, as the ghost town was essentially grey and darker grey. Lanterns covered in cobwebs hung creakily next to wooden doors. There were no lawns, no trees; thank god. A fountain sat in a rectangular plaza, completely dry. On it, a statue of a man, perhaps a ruler, stood triumphant in a ring laced with holes. There, the buildings rose a touch higher than the homes scattered across the settlement, standing about eight meters tall. Iron barred windows peaked out of the walls, a brick jutting out here and there in each. The village had one thing going for it though; there was no fog, which was peculiar for this island. Regardless, the cover of night had mostly obscured the area. In this darkness, I could barely see twenty-forty; the rest of it was a black blur.

We move to the nearest house, a two story, and gently push against the door. It doesn't budge. I try knocking instead. No response. Ahri spies through the window; nothing. I lean back and kick the door down with a _boom_. We walk in together, alert for any ambush. Living room, kitchen, fireplace; the coast was clear. What about upstairs? Ahri takes the first step.

_Creak_.

We freeze… nothing. I exhale in relief. We climb the stairs silently, arriving in a narrow hallway. Four rooms: one on the left, two on the right, and one at the end. We sneak to the door on the left.

_One. Two. Three._

We breach the room and stand back; nothing. A child sized bed set below the window. A few toys lay scatter across the ground, but that was it. We try the doors to the right next; same result. This time, we seemed to have found the master bedroom and the bathroom. Finally, the door at the end.

_Boom!_

It was… a closet? Just an empty space, with nothing in it. I look down; nothing on the ground. Left and right; nothing on the walls. Up- a faint line. I signal to Ahri for her to look at the ceiling; there was definitely a wooden square lodged in its center. She leaves to the master bedroom and returns with a coat hanger, taking it and pushing gently against the ceiling. It groans, but doesn't budge. She pushes harder. It's pretty sturdy. She pulls back and rams in straight into the square, ostentatiously flinging the thing into the attic. The signs of a ladder barely peak through, before suddenly disappearing.

"Who's there!?" I shout. No response. Ahri crouches and, in a flash of light, _Spirit Rushes_ into the attic.

"AIIIIIIIIIII!" A shrill voice screams. I follow suit, climbing the walls up into the space. The room's painted blue by Ahri's orb. A horde of miscellaneous items, from tables to buckets, are piled onto the sides. In the corner, behind a barrier of furniture, a family of four cowered. Two girls, a woman, and a man. "Please," the mother pleads, "please, take me, not my daughters. Anything but my daughters!"

"No, take me instead!" the father yells. "I'll go willingly! Just don't hurt my family, I beg of you!"

Ahri's completely dumbfounded.

I take over instead. "Calm down," I motion with my hands, "we're not here to hurt you."

"Then why did you break into our house," one of the small girls asks. The mother shuts her up, signing to be silent.

"…Because no one answered the door," I reply, somewhat bashful, "and we thought this town was completely deserted."

The man seems relax a little at my words, but keeps up his guard. "…Can I put my faith in you? Do you swear to God that you speak the truth?"

"I do solemnly swear," I answer.

He digests my words. "Alright. What do you want?"

"Meat!" Ahri jumps.

"No, that's not what we want!" I quickly amend. "We actually need somewhere to stay, if that's not too much trouble. Is there anywhere in this village we can rest?"

He considers my proposition. Without a word, he breaks from his family, shrugging off his daughters' hands and heading towards me. "…I will lead you to meet the village chief. Come with me." I nod and follow. Ahri looks back at the mother, who shies away from her stare. She turns back and exits the attic.

We leave the house and wander towards the plaza, where the man opens the doors to a small chapel. He asks us to wait near the entrance and heads towards the back. I sit on second step to the building; Ahri sits down next to me, her head cradled in her knees. A minute later, the bell at the top of the tower begins ringing, its low pitch echoing throughout the village. At first, nothing. Then slowly, light returned to the town. Lanterns lit a warm yellow throughout the village, almost making it look nice. Ahri scoots closer; I blink in surprise.

The man returns from behind us. A thin beard grew below his chin, and the signs of a moustache were clearly visible. His face was broad and middle aged; a shade of grey snuck its way into his hair, which he wore in a slight mullet. He was tall, half a head taller than us, and broad shouldered. He wore a brown vest over a white shirt and worn, woolen pants.

"The chief will see you soon," he mutters. As people began to leave their homes, some of them staring at us before breaking out into fast walk, a warrior clad in silver knight's armor clangs towards us. He towered above the rest, nearly three meters tall. His presence inspired confidence, as fleeing citizens began to pause and assemble behind him. As he drew closer, he pulled a crowd of admirers, who gossiped noisily at his back. By the time he reached us, the crowd had become a mob, mocking and taunting us behind the safety of the titan. With a wave of his hand, he silences the rabble.

"My name is Darien," he announces in a deep voice, "and I am the _Guardian_ of this village. Alex, what business does this pair have with us?"

Alex stands straight behind us, replying, "Chief, they seek refuge for the night. They broke into my home, claiming that they were unaware of our presence."

Darien takes a moment to consider, staring first at me, then longer at Ahri. His eyes narrow in suspicion. "Did they cause any grief to you?"

"Only to my door," Alex responds.

"Then I implore you to two to assist him in repairing it," Darien affirms, as he looks down at us. "We shall talk more in the morning. In the meantime, we shall answer your request and provide you with residence." The crowd breaks out into a rabble, infuriated at his decision. "Silence! Now, who shall volunteer?" Silence. An agonizing period passes, before a voice speaks out.

"I shall," Alex says, his head turned away, his fists balled. A sigh of relief breaks through the crowd; I hold back the urge to punch them.

"Then it is settled," the knight concludes. "Indeed, it is for the best. See to it that these visitors receive appropriate hospitality." His plating clangs together as he begins to leave the vicinity, the ground making way for him.

They stare daggers at us and mumble amongst each other vehemently, spitting their words through their teeth. My brow furrows in frustration.

"Come, let's head back," Alex says insincerely. He slowly makes his way back. As he walks, a man accosts him.

"Are you insane?" The stranger barely attempts to lower his voice. "How do you know if they won't just-"

"Enough," Alex silences the man. "The chief has spoken. I will obey." A hail of insults rains down upon Alex, but he continues to take it without a word. What do they want from him? What's he supposed to say? I close my eyes and suppress the resentment.

Ahri gets up and makes her way back to the household. The mob suddenly freezes and backs off in fear, freeing Alex from his imprisonment. They mutter harshly under their breath and she disappears out of sight. I look towards Alex; his expression remains unchanged, without a shred of gratefulness for Ahri's silent favor. As soon as she leaves, the crowd resumes their hounding, but Alex takes the chance and walks away without a word.

With most of their objects of ire having left the scene, the denizens begin to disperse, a few of them staying behind to watch me a little longer. A woman is about to speak; her companion stops her, shaking his head 'no'. Eventually, the rest of them depart.

I curse to myself before strolling away.

To Be Continued…

**Author Notes: I actually finished this chapter this morning, but I had a lot of review to do and ended up revising quite a bit. As always, any comments are greatly appreciated! Expect the next chapter in two to three days time, since weekdays are busy days :/**


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